Aaron Loomis

Jiunn Liu

Pre-light Experience

This is a beefy looking cigar with a chocolate brown colored wrapper. There are a fair number of veins present. The seams are easily visible but smooth. The head of the cigar is fairly flat and has a tightly wrapped pigtail. The wrapper folds over the foot where it is mostly covered. The aroma from the wrapper is a hefty barnyard. The aroma from the foot also carries some of the barnyard as the wrapper is folded over, but I am also able to get a significant raisin like sweetness. The pre-light draw brings flavors of leather and raisin with a slight spice on my lips.

Pre-light Experience

The Jordan Alexander III Double Toro has a smooth Colorado claro wrapper. This beast of a cigar has many various dark brown marks running through the entire cigar. The veiny cigar feels well bunched and rolled providing a good give on the entire cigar. The flare of the semi-enclosed foot and pigtail cap is an added plus to the overall presentation. Wrapper aromas of pungent barnyard and sharp cedar. Foot aromas of nose tingling white pepper spice and sharp cedar. Cold draw tells namely sweet natural tobacco notes and sawdust.

First Third

Upon lighting, I am greeted with a slightly sweet and creamy woodiness. After a couple of draws, the wood becomes a bit piney, but not a bright pine, but a rough and muddled pine. The flavors in the mouth are identical to what is present on the retrohale. At a half inch in, the retrohale diverts from the flavors in the mouth and becomes much creamier but still maintains a bit of woodiness. As the cigar continues, there is still an underlying pine in the mouth flavor that mixes in with a little cream. The sweetness is no longer present. An inch and a half in, the pine finish really sits on the tongue. There is an ever so slight mild pepper that is now peeking in. As the third comes to a close, The mouth flavor is primarily creamy and woodiness with a bit of pine finish. The retrohale is creamy with a bit of woodiness. The strength is just slightly below medium.

First Third

First thirds initial flavor profile consists of dominant bitter charred wood, bread and hay. Secondary flavor of bitter dry roasted nuts. Surprisingly, there is almost no spice tasted through the mouth. On the retrohale, favorable notes of white pepper spice, intensified bread/yeast mixed with cedar and sweet creaminess. The finish is a long and lingering sweet and creamy bread and bitter charred wood. Roughly 1.5 inches in, the sweet creaminess drastically intensifies, playing off the wood note very well. First thirds body and strength is at a consistent medium.

Second Third

The ash dropped right as the cigar transitioned into the second third. The woodiness has now become primary with the cream taking a backup role. The pine finish has also diminished. About a quarter inch in, the pine finish returns. The retrohale remains creamy with a slight woodiness. About an inch in, a little bit of the pine is making its way into the retrohale. Nearing the end of the third, the pine that has been present is now transitioning to some bitterness that is really sitting on my tongue. The strength in this third is now just a bit above medium.

Second Third

The first inch of the second third is a continuation of the first third. Still distinct flavors of intense sweet and creamy bread and bitter dry roasted nuts, and hay. The spice is still, for the most part, unrealized through the mouth. The retrohale is my favorite part of the second third, providing white pepper, bread/yeast mixed with cedar and sweet creaminess. Past the inch mark, the bitterness is compounded by a sharp harshness and minerality, drowning out some of the sweet creaminess. The finish is comprised of lingering bread/yeast, harsh and bitter charred wood. Both body and strength continues to be at a medium.

Final Third

The ash drops again right as this third begins. The flavor is primarily woody with some creaminess in the background. There is also a bit of bitterness. The retrohale is woody with some cream, but no bitterness. About a half inch in, the bitterness has really taken over. The retrohale has now transitioned to primarily being creamy with the woodiness in the background. An inch in, the bitterness becomes a mintiness and is the dominant flavor. As the cigar finishes, it is still primarily minty with some wood in the background. The retrohale remained creamy. The strength in this third was medium-full.

Final Third

The last thirds flavor profile takes a dive for the worse. The harsh and bitterness tasted in the second third continues to build, now being a dominant factor. This drowns out the cedar, dry roasted nuts, and certainly the sweet cream quite a bit. Further, the sharp minerality at times becomes metallic, another unwelcoming flavor. Just like the second third, my favorite part of the last third is the retrohale, providing sharp cedar mixed in with dry roasted nuts. The finish is namely an abundance of harsh bitterness. Both body and strength continues to be a solid medium.

Burn

The burn was pretty good. The ash held on in 2 inch segments and was a little flaky. There were a couple of points where sections of the wrapper didn’t burn and I needed to touch it up to straighten things out.

Burn

Burn, in terms of ash marks, was great. Solid ash marks never becoming flowery. But the burn line was a significant let down. There was a part of the cigar that just refused to burn throughout the entire smoking experience, causing six re-lights.

Draw

The draw was very good. Typically in larger ring gauges this is a fear of mine as with the amount I need to open my mouth to draw on the cigar, it lessens my ability to meter the draw, but this cigar didn’t cause me any issues with that.

Overall

This was an OK cigar. The first third was the best and then it slowly regressed from there. The bitterness experienced in the last third put a damper on things. I would like to try this cigar in a smaller ring gauge to see how the experience differs. With the strength level, it should be approachable to most smokers. I would say an afternoon or evening time frame would work best and probably would pair well with brown spirits.

Aaron

Jiunn

Good

PreLight

Average

Good

FirstThird

Good

Average

Second Third

Average

Subpar

FinalThird

Subpar

Good

Burn

Poor

Very Good

Draw

Very Good

Average

Overall

Subpar

Draw

The draw was on point. Effortless draws. No complaints here.

Overall

This is a cigar in which I believe the construction was the culprit. The numerous re-lights and uneven burn may have caused the flavors to be unfavorable (harsh, bitter, intermittent metallic notes) especially in the second and last third. I am hoping this was a one off scenario and am interested in seeing Aaron’s results. Further, I am interested in trying a smaller ring gauge, as I felt the 60 ring gauge drowned out the wrapper flavors a bit too much (especially in the spice department).